Making sense (and, sometimes, nonsense) out of Current News, Issues, Politics

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Did Britain Have Its Own Version of the Boston Tea Party?

When the American colonies broke from British rule, it was all about "taxation without representation". Angry over the tax on imported tea from Britain, several colonists known as the Sons of Liberty staged the now famous Boston Tea Party by dumping chests of the tea into Boston's harbor.

Interestingly, the recent vote by the British to exit the European Union has some very interesting parallels to our own break with British rule.

While our rallying cry was "taxation without representation", the Brits complained of being ruled by "unelected bureaucrats" in Brussels. A somewhat similar complaint. But, there's one more thing. Interestingly, the EU was on the verge of banning the Brits beloved electric tea kettles. As a result, this became the symbol of the Brexit vote. Once again, tea was at the heart of the objection to excessive rule.

Maybe the British should have remembered the American Revolution before they originally agreed to join the European Union. A lesson that apparently went unlearned.